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HIST 373W American Health Politics and Policy

Finding Primary Sources

For historical research, the phrase "primary sources" refers to items that were created at the time an event occurred usually by direct observers or participants. Primary sources are not limited to traditional text-based documents such as newspaper articles and journal entries; photographs, posters, audio recordings, video clips, books, and more can all serve as primary sources if they are used as evidence of the time in which they were created. It's not about the source type...it's about how the source is used for your research.


Large Digital Collections (Good for any topic!)


Historical Periodicals (Newspapers, magazines, editorials, etc.)


Government Documents


Oral Histories